Smart Trips Brings Home the Gold in National Race to Excellence
Smart Trips?a regional program housed within MPC that promotes commuting alternatives?has earned a Gold Award in the National Center for Transit Research's 2012 Race to Excellence. Smart Trips was also named "Best Of" in the Supporting Agency category. One of only four agencies nationwide to be awarded gold in the race, Smart Trips received the honor via a "virtual awards ceremony" on January 31.
The Race to Excellence encourages, recognizes, and highlights dedicated professionals throughout the country (like our Smart Trips staff!) who promote commuter benefits, transportation options and the Best Workplaces for Commutersdesignation in their workplaces and throughout their local communities. To win the race, Smart Trips helped six local employers? Elizabeth Eason Architecture, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Mast General Store, the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission, Red Chair Architects and TVA?obtain the national Best Workplaces for Commuters (BWC) designation in March 2012 and then promoted the awards on behalf of each company.
"Attaining a Gold Award in the Race to Excellence recognizes not only the creativity and dedication of the Smart Trips team, but also the commitment of our business community," says program manager, Kelley Segars. "We're proud of the Knoxville employers who earned the BWC designation last year, and we are working hard to help another group of exemplary local employers gain recognition this year."
While Smart Trips staff certainly helped each of the local companies with the application process in 2012, the "assistance" went far beyond filling out a form and submitting a fee.
An organization is eligible for the BWC designation when it offers at least three commuting benefits to its employees. For participating Smart Trips employers, two of those three benefits are provided and managed by Smart Trips.
"All Smart Trips employers participate in our emergency ride home program and our commuter rewards program," said program coordinator, Alisa Ashouri. "Simply by joining the Smart Trips program, an employer is two-thirds of the way toward eligibility for the BWC designation."
The third benefit is designed and managed by the employer. Examples include offering transit passes, "buying back" parking costs for bicyclists, and awarding prizes to participating employees.
Best Workplaces for Commuters is a public-private partnership developed by the EPA and DOT that has established a voluntary National Standard of Excellence for commuter benefits.
Smart Trips is a regional organization that promotes alternatives to driving alone and helps commuters find carpool partners, bike and transit buddies, save money on gas and help the environment.
Posted 03-13-2013, written by Sarah Powell
